It's Okay to be Biased...

...when you're a skirt.

I welcome you to day one of

September Sewing Celebration!!

and give you:

What is bias?  It is fabric that has been cut at a 45 degree angle which helps to give it more flexibility and stretch.  Men's neckties are cut on the bias so they tie nicely.  Piping is cut on the bias since it's usually used around the edges of items:  

Sometimes an entire piece of clothing is made on the bias, aiding in a specific type of fitting and draping, as well as creating a different pattern, like the Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook:

Another beneficial quality to fabric cut on the bias is that the edges don't fray, so you don't have to do any type of finishing technique.  They may get a little bit of a feathered look, but you can't pull the threads off like something cut on grain.  So, how do you cut something on the bias?  If you have a cutting mat, there are guidelines as to where you would cut your fabric, lining the selvage up with the edge of the mat.  You can also fold the corner of your fabric into a right triangle [do you remember your geometry?] like this:

What you'll need for A Very Biased Skirt:

1-2 yards of 3 or 4 varying hues of fabric*

A cutting mat/rotary cutter--optional, although very useful in cutting your strips of fabric

3/4" elastic

*I got my fabric at the cheap $1/yard table and they are varying contents, and weights, but stick to the "lighter" types of fabrics including sheers, light cottons, and linings 

For the skirt base, you can either use a pattern, or trace a skirt you already own.  What will work for this project:  a lightly gathered skirt, an A-line skirt, or a straight skirt.  

I traced a simple A-line skirt and added 1/2" on the sides for a seam allowance.

For your bias strips, once you've made your initial cut on the bias, you can fold your fabric in half for ease of cutting and cut several 2" wide strips

Hem skirt by folding under twice and stitching.  This doesn't have to be perfect, because it will be hidden by the bias strips.

Continue sewing the strips up as high as you desire.  I purposely made my strips different widths apart, overlapping them at different spots.  Sometimes I sewed two on at the same time.

Cut your waistband 3" wide and the same length as the skirt plus 1" to account for the 1/2" seam allowance.  Sew the waistband seam 1/2".

Press seam allowance open, fold the bottom of the waistband up 1/2" and press.

Sew waistband on with 1/2" seam allowance, fold down waistband inside so you now have a 1" band showing and pin.  I chose to hand stitch it on the inside so there wouldn't be any stitches showing on the right side, but you can certainly machine stitch the waistband.  Be sure to leave 2" open in the back for your elastic.

After inserting elastic, overlap the ends and zig-zag stitch to hold in place.

Stitch through all thicknesses at pins.  Stitch opening shut.

I love the slight ruffles in the back created by gathering the back of the skirt.

I have enough material left over to make an adult size...

Mother-daughter matching skirts?

Now play with this technique.  A jumper?  Some cute bloomers?

Post your photos at our Flickr group, 
"a big dill" here,
or link to your project here.


ps
Look forward to a very SHARP giveaway tomorrow!